How to Make an Instagram Story Stay on Your Profile

You've poured time and creativity into the perfect Instagram Story - complete with addictive polls, behind-the-scenes videos, and on-point text overlays - only for it to vanish into the digital ether after 24 hours. The good news is that you can make your best story content a permanent fixture on your profile. This guide walks you through how to use Instagram Highlights to keep your stories live, turning them into valuable resources that build your brand, engage your followers, and grow your audience long after their initial 24-hour cycle is over.

What Are Instagram Highlights (and Why Should You Care)?

Before we get into the "how," let's quickly cover the "what." Instagram Highlights are the small, circular icons that live on your profile, right below your bio and above your main photo grid. Think of them as curated collections or themed albums for your past Instagram Stories. Instead of disappearing, the content you add to a Highlight stays on your profile indefinitely, accessible to anyone who visits your page.

Why is this a big deal? Because it transforms temporary content into a permanent asset. Highlights allow you to:

• Showcase your best content: Display your most engaging, informative, or entertaining stories for new visitors to discover.
• Organize information: Create dedicated folders for FAQs, tutorials, product showcases, or testimonials, making it easy for followers to find what they need.
• Reinforce your brand identity: With custom covers and curated content, Highlights are a powerful tool for establishing your brand's personality, style, and values.
• Answer questions on autopilot: A well-organized set of Highlights can act as a resource hub, saving you from answering the same questions over and over in your DMs.

Step-by-Step: How to Create an Instagram Highlight

Ready to save your stories from disappearing? There are two main ways to create a Highlight: by adding a new story as it's live, or by pulling from your archive of past stories. Both start with one critical setting.

First, Make Sure Your Story Archive is On

Instagram needs a place to store your stories before you can add them to a Highlight. This place is called the Story Archive, and you need to make sure it's enabled. Most accounts have this turned on by default, but it's always good to check.

1. Navigate to your Instagram profile and tap the three horizontal lines (☰) in the top-right corner.
2. Tap on "Archive."
3. Once inside your archive, tap the three dots (...) in the top-right corner and select "Settings."
4. Make sure the toggle next to "Save Story to Archive" is turned on (it should be blue).

With this setting enabled, every story you post will be automatically saved to your private archive after it disappears from public view. This is your personal library of content to pull from whenever you want to create or add to a Highlight.

Method 1: Create a Highlight from Your Active Story

This is the quickest way to turn a brand-new story into a permanent fixture.

1. Post a story just as you normally would.
2. While the story is still live (within its 24-hour window), view it and look for the "Highlight" icon with a heart shape at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap "Highlight." A pop-up menu will appear, giving you the option to add it to an existing Highlight or create a new one.
4. To create a new one, tap the "+" New icon.
5. Give your new Highlight a name (e.g., "About Me," "FAQs," "Tutorials").
6. Tap "Add," and the new Highlight will instantly appear on your profile.

Method 2: Create a Highlight from Your Story Archive

This is the method you'll use to group older stories together into a compelling collection.

1. Go to your Instagram profile page.
2. Below your bio, you'll see the "Story Highlights" section. Tap the "+" New icon.
3. This will open your Story Archive, showing you all the past stories you've ever posted in chronological order.
4. Tap to select all the stories you want to include in this Highlight. A small blue checkmark will appear on the stories you choose.
5. Once you've selected your content, tap "Next" in the top-right corner.
6. Now you'll be prompted to give your Highlight a name. Keep it short and descriptive, as only a limited number of characters will show on your profile.
7. Here you can also tap "Edit Cover" to choose which story slide will be the public-facing image for the Highlight, or you can upload a custom cover photo (more on that next!).
8. Tap "Add," (on iPhone) or "Done" (on Android), and your new masterpiece is live on your profile.

Designing Highlight Covers that Impress

Your content is fantastic, but what makes someone want to click on your story collections in the first place? Professional-looking, on-brand Highlight covers.

These small circular images do more than just organize your content, they give your profile an immediate visual upgrade, making it look cohesive and well-managed. Ditching the default, pixelated story previews for custom graphics is one of the easiest ways to elevate your brand presence.

Ideas for Highlight Cover Designs:

• Icons: Simple, clean icons are the most popular choice. Find icons that visually represent the theme of each Highlight (e.g., a question mark for FAQs, a shopping cart for products, a plane for travel).
• Branded Colors: Create solid backgrounds using your brand colors to maintain a consistent aesthetic.
• Text Labels: Use a clear, consistent font to write out the name of the Highlight. Best for very simple categories.
• Illustrations or Photos: Use minimalist illustrations or high-quality photos that align with your overall brand look and feel.

How to Create and Upload Custom Highlight Covers

You don't need to be a graphic designer to make great covers. Tools like Canva offer free templates specifically for Instagram Story Highlight covers.

1. Open a tool like Canva and search for "Instagram Story Highlight Cover" templates.
2. Customize a template with your brand's colors, fonts, and icons. Keep the design simple and centered, as Instagram will crop it into a circle.
3. Create a separate image for each Highlight category you plan to have.
4. Save all the cover images to your phone's camera roll.
5. Go to your Instagram profile and tap and hold the Highlight you want to update.
6. Select "Edit Highlight."
7. At the very top, tap "Edit Cover."
8. Instead of selecting a clip from the story itself, tap the image icon at the bottom of the screen to select a photo from your camera roll.
9. Choose the custom cover you just created, adjust the circular crop to center your design, and tap "Done."

Strategic Ideas for Your Highlights: What to Showcase

So, you know how to create Highlights. Now, what should you put in them? The best Highlights serve a purpose. They entertain, educate, or build trust. Here are some effective ideas for any type of brand or creator.

For Brands and Businesses

• Products/Services: Show off what you sell! Create a "mini-catalog" with videos, pricing, and links.
• FAQs: A must-have. Compile a list of your most common customer questions about shipping, returns, how your service works, etc.
• Testimonials/Reviews: Social proof sells. Share screenshots of glowing reviews, customer photos, and video testimonials. Let your happy customers do the talking.
• About Us/Our Story: Introduce your mission and the people behind the brand to build a stronger, more personal connection with your audience.
• How To Use: If you sell a product, create a Highlight-based user manual. Show tutorials, tips, and tricks for making the most of what you offer.
• Behind the Scenes (BTS): Give followers a look at your workspace, your creation process, or a day in the life at your company.

For Creators, Influencers, and Personal Brands

• About Me: New followers land on your page every day. Have a Highlight ready that introduces who you are, what you do, and what they can expect from your content.
• Tutorials/Tips: Whether your niche is makeup, fitness, cooking, or home organization, package your educational content into easy-to-follow Highlight collections.
• Q&,A Sessions: Done a fun Q&,A sticker recently? Save the best questions and answers to show off your personality and expertise.
• Resources/Favorites: Share links to your favorite tools, books, apps, or anything else your audience asks about. It's a great way to provide value and use affiliate links.
• Travel: Group stories by destination (e.g., "Paris '24," "Bali Guide"), creating bite-sized travel guides for your audience.
• Collaborations: Dedicate a Highlight to showcasing your amazing work with brand partners.

Final Thoughts

Turning your fleeting Instagram Stories into permanent Highlights is one of the most effective ways to add lasting value to your profile. By carefully curating your best content into strategic collections, you can build a powerful resource hub that works for you 24/7, showcasing your brand personality, answering questions, and building a deeper connection with your audience.

Creating content that is compelling enough for your Highlights starts with good planning. To make this process smoother and more strategic, we built Postbase with a visual content calendar at its core. It allows us to plan and schedule all our social media content, including the videos and images destined to become standout Story Highlights, all from one clean dashboard. This organizational clarity lets you design and build your Highlights with purpose instead of just pulling from random, day-of posts.